Axel Blackwood catches a thief and is astounded to see that he closely resembles Liam Alloway, the love he lost seven years ago in an attack by the evil woodland folk known as threeves. Axel suspects he's fallen prey to dark magic, but can't help becoming infatuated with his prisoner. He's overwhelmed with the hope that he can at last bring his lost lover home, despite everything that warns him it's all a diabolical trick. Bryn Darrow, the half-threeve, half human orphan sent to trick Axel and rob him of much more than a simple gem finds himself equally as fascinated with his handsome human captor and the lure of someplace to call home, but he knows deep down that the constable is in love with a dangerous illusion. When he's commanded by the threeves to murder Axel and steal a witch's powerful grimoire, he's forced to decide between the only family he's ever known and the one person who might rescue him from a life of isolation and pain. Will Axel and Bryn be forced into a deadly confrontation before they can discover the truth?